Paradise >> If thoughts of howling winds, violent thunderclaps and silently opening doors makes people think of Halloween, they will want to see, “The Veil,” a dark drama at Theatre on the Ridge in Paradise today through Oct. 2.

The theater’s artistic director Jerry Miller explained, “I chose this play because fall is the perfect time for a Victorian ghost story. Playwright, Conor McPherson is best at it.”

The Irish playwright has a knack for the supernatural and an ability to persuade audiences to suspend their disbelief in what takes place in his plays.

“I’m drawn to these types of plays,” said director Joe Hilsee. “This is a Gothic ghost story, a more traditional ghost story. I find the play a fascinating piece. Everybody in the play is wrestling with their own personal ghosts. It might be a memory or a missed opportunity, but we all have those things which haunt us.”

The action of “The Veil” takes place in the crumbling glory of Mount Prospect House in Ireland in 1822. Threatened by rural unrest and her own impoverishment, the widowed mistress of the house is desperate to find a way out of her situation.

Young Hannah is troubled by voices she hears. Her mother decides she should be chaperoned by the Reverend Berkeley (Chris Scottt), a defrocked Anglican minister.

He arrives with his friend, Charles Audelle (Nick Anderson), who is labeled a philosopher, has transcendentalist leanings.

Compelled by the strange voices that haunt the beautiful young Hannah and a fascination with psychic current that pervades the house, Berkeley proposes a seance and creepy manifestations of troubled spirits begin to erupt.

Add to this a touching grandmother in the grips of dementia, Grandie, Madeleine’s grandmother (Mary Burns.)

Dona Dausey in the role of Mrs. Goulding, a housekeeper and nurse, Bruce Dillman as Mr. Fingal, an estate manager, and Tatum Hazelton as Clare Wallace, a housemaid, round out this exemplary cast.

With costuming and scenery by Amber Miller, “The Veil” is a mixture of dark comedy and suspense.

Set in the 19th century, the dialogue in this play is not boring.

“There are not any real big surprises in this play,” Hilsee said. “There are always mysteries involved so audiences want to know what happens next. I think our audiences will enjoy it quite a bit.”